Breathe You In
by LennonXMcCartney
Summary: A Brax and Charlie's story. What if things turned out differently? What if something went really wrong and resulted in Brax's feelings for Charlie turning from true love to those of hatred? His heart being conflicted between his evident connection with a women that he has never felt before and his loyal and protective nature of his family and brotherhood. (I don't own H&A)
1. Chapter 1

**_Chapter One:_**

_Like the person I'm going to spend the rest of my life with will be at this thing.  
_Charlie thought to herself as she slipped into the white top and black skin tight jeans she had pulled out of her wardrobe. Despite the fact that who two best friends Leah and Bianca would be there with her, she wasn't really looking forward to attending this singles night. The only reason she was going was because Angelo meant a lot to her and she knew how much this night meant to him and his business.

"Charlie, Bianca's here, you ready?" Leah called from the lounge room. Before leaving her room Charlie took one last look in the mirror and pulled her long brown hair over her right shoulder.  
"Let's get this over with" Charlie sighed with a weak smile. "I've got the early shift tomorrow"  
Leah nodded, "Yeah me too, but hey who knows, we could actually have a good time"  
Charlie raised her eyebrow at the comment, does Leah really mean that or does she just using this as an out to lead her thoughts away from her relationship problems, or lack of.

The trio pulled up out the front of the Summer Bay surf club and the number of people was minimal. Maybe tonight wont be as bad as Charlie thought, probably just more boring. As they walked up stairs to _Angelo's _they were approached by the owner and friend.  
"Thank you so much for this, I'm really scraping through by the skin of my teeth here"

Angelo looked stressed, and it could be assumed by the number in attendance.  
"It's our pleasure Angelo" Leah offered with a slightly weak smile. It was obvious that the three girls were bored. With that Angelo turned to keep roaming the restaurant making small talk with the customers.

"You would think there would be more people here" Bianca sighed "Or at least more single good-looking men"  
"Why do you need single good looking men, when your hot rockstar boyfriend is standing right over there" Charlie questioned. Liam was standing by the stage talking to a young girl. The sight wasn't to the likes of Bianca obviously, as she stood up and went to talk tot he group of young men over by the bar.  
"Trouble in paradise it seems" Leah spoke.  
"Looks like it" laughed Charlie lightly.

Twenty minutes and 2 more glasses of wine later, Bianca returned. "This isn't gonna get any better. We came, and showed our support, now i think it's time to go"

Almost on cue Angelo walked over to the girls. "Hows it all going? Can i get you ladies another drink?" Charlie could see Angelo was desperate and it made her feel terrible.

"Ah no thanks Angelo, we were just about to head off. I've got work in the morning" Leah said.

"And I've got the morning shift" Added Charlie. "We had a good time though, thanks"  
As the girls picked up their hand bags Angelo interjected "Please, just half an hour more" His eyes pleading into Charlie's. "It might sound bad but i need you girls to stay to attractive more of the guys"

"You're right, that does sound bad" Charlie retorted.  
"Please I'm begging you. One more glass"  
The three girls looked at each other. "Fine! But only one more"  
Angelo's smile returned to his face. "Thankyou!" As he went to turn, a large group of men walked in. "Oh perfect, just what i don't need"  
Bianca looked intrigued "Who are they?"  
Charlie knew instantly who they were, she'd had to deal with them before due to their constant run in with the law. "The Riverboys, a surfy gang from Mangrove River."  
"Yeah and they don't usually hang out in the bay" Angelo started to look agitated.  
"Which means they are probably here to cause trouble" Charlie added. She knew what these boys were about, which lead her to believe that tonight could get just that little bit more interesting. Angelo sighed, knowing he had to go serve he boys. "Excuse me." and with that he left.

From the table Charlie could see Angelo talking to the two Riverboys who she had dealt with frequently, well at least the younger of the pair. The older brother just bails him out all the time, being the leader of the gang, Charlie assumed he was just smarted about how he did his business. The tall man was dressed in loose khaki cargo shorts and a paid button up shirt with a hood. His physic was strong and muscular and it attracted the eyes of the small amount of girls throughout the bar. Obviously finished ordering his drink he turned to face the restaurant, almost catching charlie looking at him. She quickly everted her eyes in another direction and started to walk to the restroom. The man watched her the whole way, her beauty making it hard for him to look away. He knew who she was too, and something about her made his stomach flip as he saw her walk towards the door. But she wasn't leaving just yet.

The boys resided in a large booth close to the bar, not taking much notice of the people around them. Causing a ruckus, the jeered and mucked around. Charlie was seated with her friends again and it was not subtle where their attention was devoted to. Not that they were the only ones in the place that had all eyes on the Riverboys. Leah and Bianca were asking Charlie all about the boys, what she knew about them, who they were, what they had done. Being senior sergeant of the town Charlie knew all about the gang. A small gap opened up and gave the girls a straight line of sight to the leader. He was chatting with on the the boys and it was obvious that he was a little different to the rest of them, more calm. Despite that Charlie had her own impression of him and shared it with her friends. "See him.." she began. It was like he heard her speak, which was impossible because of the noise in the room and them being in opposite sides of the restaurant, but he looked straight at her. Their eyes locked on each other and Charlie felt her knees weaken but she continued. "… Darryl Braxton. He's serious trouble, and his friends are no angels either."  
Brax continued staring at her, she could almost feel his eyes burning into her skin. What was his problem? why was he staring at her? and why did it make her feel that way? Charlie's thoughts were interrupted by Bianca's comment.  
"Why are the bad ones always so hot?"  
The words resonated in Charlie's mind. It was something she questioned all the time. The bad ones are always the hottest, but no one was like Brax. She was attracted to him, and she hated it.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter Two_**

Charlie's thoughts were correct, the night did get a lot more interesting. The river boys presence being forcefully pushed upon the people at Angelo's. As the noise and commotion increased Charlie could sense the uneasiness of the locals, and being the senior sergeant she felt obliged to act.

"You need to shut this down before things get out of hand"

Angelo's face was that of disappointment and she slightly nodded his head in approval and walked towards the pack of hooligans.

"Time to finish up Brax" his voice was stern.

Without even glancing up at Angelo, Brax replied "The sign outside says you don't close for another hour" as he continued to down his drink.  
"Well tonights a special night"  
Brax stop and turned to face the owner "You can't refuse us service, that'd be discrimination"

As the pair exchanged words Angelo could see Heath, Brax's younger brother, making unwanted advances on Leah. Quickly leaving Brax he walked over to Heath. "Right mate, it's time for you to leave"  
Heath chuckled to himself before facing the man "I'm not doing anything wrong, so you have no right"

"I have every right" Angelo's voice was loud, almost a yell.  
Charlie and Brax both turned from opposite sides of the restaurant to face the same encounter. Swiftly moving towards the trio by the door, Charlie could see Leah was uncomfortable.  
"Alright Heath, you've been asked to leave" she said turning into cop mode.  
A grin washed over Heath's face, "Ahh officer Buckton. This place is just full of cops tonight"  
Leah was ushered away by her friend but as the pair turned their back Angelo pushed Heath. A fight broke out within seconds, River Boys against the locals. It quickly got out of hand with glasses being thrown and chairs being broken. As quickly as a reflex Charlie called the station for back up and the police were there within seconds.

As the surf club and restaurant was evacuated and the police were moving people out, Charlie watched from the side out of the action. She could see River boys still throwing punches, and she shook her head. Skimming over the people in the crowed a man caught her eye. Despite his reputation Brax was pulling boys from his gang and thawing them out. The boys who came into contact with him swiftly turned on their heels and left the premises. As the number of boys he pulled out increased, the commotion quickly ceased. His eyes searched for any other members of his gang but locked with Charlie's. Her brown hair shining in the moonlight, she looked stunning. Brax could feel is body tingle, a feeling he had never felt before. The pairs gazed remained connected for longer than the usual glance. It was like nothing or no-one else was there, and time had stood still. Charlie felt her knees weaken under his stare. Their moment was quickly broken when a pair of officers wrestled Heath out of the building placing him in the back of the cop car. Charlie watched as he resisted their grip and shouted back at the officers. _Typical Heath _ she thought before she turned back to the crowed. Her breath caught in throat as she saw Brax walking towards her.

"Why is Heath getting taken away" he questioned her "Angelo started it"  
Charlie was taken back by his approach and answered the only way she could think of "You are more than welcome to accompany your brother to the station"  
a smirk grew on Brax face, one that made the hair on her arms stand "Yeah but I think you'd like that ay" he flirted. Charlie was unsure if he was flirting or just taking the piss, but one thing she did know was that he was right. She would like that. Unwilling to let him know that, she simply rolled her eyes at him before turning her back to walk away. Brax smiled to himself as he watched her slender figure disappear into the night. Secretly he would like nothing more than to see her again, so he was silently pleased that Heath had been taken in.

As Charlie walked into the station she was pleasantly greeted by her partner Watson.  
"What's the situation? Has anyone pressed charges or are we cutting them loose with a warning?" Watson asked after Charlie had come out of her office.

"That all depends. Did we get any call of anyone getting hurt? or Has Angelo made a claim?"

Watson shook her head "From the knowledge we gained from the witnesses, Angelo was the one that started the physical, so these boys" she nodded towards the pack of River Boy sitting by the wall being interviewed by other officers "technically could be let off due to self defence. It sucks that they wouldn't even need a lawyer to get that though."

Watson's last comment had Charlie confused. "What do you mean?"

"That bloke is about as good as a lawyer"

Charlie's eye followed the line between Watson's pointed finger and the man at the receiving end. There stood Brax with a smug look upon his face and his arms crossed looking straight at her. As the River boys were being told they were cleared to leave the station, he walked towards her. Turning her back to look at some paper work, Charlie tried to avoid interaction with him, well, at least any obvious interaction that could be seen by the others within the station.  
"Bit bittersweet isn't it?" he whispered allowing only Charlie to hear him. The warmth of his breath against her neck sent shivers up her spine.

"there are no charges and your boys got off free, I don't see whats bitter about that?"  
"Oh no I meant for you. Ya know, bitter because you don't get to make any arrests therefore meaning none of my boys are being held responsible for this, but sweet because you got to see me again" The tone in his voice made Charlie angry. He was mocking her.

She quickly turned to face him not aware of how close he was actually standing. As the distance between them was only a few centimetres, Brax swiftly closed the gap allowing their noses touch. Slightly in shock, Charlie was frozen staring into his bright green eyes. She was unable to form any words, so she used the few seconds to study his face. Every crease and line. His tanned complexion giving off a subtle glow. She noticed the prominent scar above his left eyebrow. It looked fairly new and there was as slight shade of purple beneath it which affirmed her thought. She wondered how he had go it, was it another brawl? or was he, despite his reputation, different from the others? Her gaze moved from his eyes to his lips, that were partially parted. Brax noticed the movement and softly bit his bottom lip. The action that was often used as a method of seduction by men, but it wasn't like that. It was almost as his he was nervous that they ere so close together. Just like Charlie, Brax had been soaking in her presence. Her tanned skin complimented the darkness of her hair that fell loosely around her face. He watched as her eyes left his but he couldn't look away from hers. If he had to pick one stand out feature about Charlie Buckton it was her eyes. Those piercing, sky blue eyes that could see straight through him. Charlie was the first to step away thinking that the whole station would have noticed them and thought something of it. Brax smiled softly knowing that she was nervous.

"Nothing about an encounter with a River Boy is sweet in my books" she spoke softly, her voice shaking. Brax slyly reached out his hand and it past her side allowing it to linger on hers.  
"Good thing I'm not your average River Boy"  
His words made her heart jump to the back of her throat. Brax walked towards the station door as the last of his gang was freed, but just before he stepped out he turned back to look at Charlie one more time, giving her a wink. Charlie felt her heart beat increase dramatically and blood rush to her cheeks. The electricity between the pair was more intense than anything either of them had felt before.


	3. Chapter 3

** [****_Thanks so much for the messages and reviews - although i can't see them anywhere but in my email account - they mean so much to me. This is my first proper story that will have a bit of depth and it's great to know that people are actually reading it and enjoying it and wanting more :D anyway, hopefully the story will start to develop more now that I'm past the introduction phrase. For those of you who asked - yes the other brothers will be very much involved in the story, even Kyle, but they will come in further down the track when things start to get really interesting! Stay Tuned! ]_**

* * *

**_Chapter 3_**

The car ride home felt like hours for Charlie, even though she lived within minutes of the station. She could not shake the feeling Brax had instilled within her. The whole way home she was distracted with the images that floated in her mind of his brown sandy hair and his sea green eyes that had so much depth, like they had seen so much at such a young age that they were full of knowledge and compassion. Despite his bad reputation, she could not shake the feeling that there was something different about him. Something pure. She wasn't sure what it was, but a force inside of her yearned to find out. As she pulled up in her drive way Charlie stayed sitting in the driver seat, alone with her thoughts. _He's off limits _she forcefully thought to herself _He's probably just like the rest of them, a gang set out to make officers lives difficult. _Although she was the senior sergeant in the town, she really didn't know that much about the Braxton's. She knew that they were brothers, and they came from Mangrove River, she knew that Brax was the leader of the River Boys gang and that every boy involved looked up and listened to him, she knew that they had been involved in many run-in's with the law. She knew a lot about the River Boys gang, but not a lot about the boys themselves. The Braxton brothers are infamous in their own way, but who are they? What are their parents names? Do they even have parents? Do they have any other siblings? Do they have jobs? There were so many things that Charlie didn't know, yet she had made such a bad perception of them to herself.

Waking from her daydream Charlie realised she'd been sitting in her car for well over five minutes. Pushing all thoughts of the Braxton's to the back of her mind she stepped out of her car and approached the door. Leah had gone home with Bianca from Angelo's to make sure she got home okay and her car wasn't at the house, so Charlie assumed she was still there, meaning Ruby was home alone. As Charlie turned the door handle to the front door it opened with ease.  
"Ruby! What have I told you about leaving the front door unlocked when you're home alone?" She called, her voice a bit louder than the average speaking tone. There was no response. Immediately turning into mum-mode Charlie felt a slight sense of fear creep over her. "Ruby?" she yelled louder than the first time.  
"Charlie! What's your problem?" Ruby said as she came out of her room. Dressed in a red knitted jumper and blue skinny jeans with her curly hair down and make up on, the teenager looked a little bit too dressed up to be spending the night studying. Charlie over looked her appearance as she was focused on the door being unlocked.  
"I've told you a million times, the door needs to be locked when you're home alon-" Mid sentence Charlie stopped as a figure appeared out of Ruby's room. The boy was tall and thin, with sandy brown hair. Something about him seemed so familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. He looked quite embarrassed that he was in the house when Charlie didn't know, or was it that they were caught.  
"See that's the thing Charlie, I'm not alone, so what's the problem?" Ruby said sarcastically.  
The boy looked at his feet before making eye contact with Charlie, "I'm really sorry Mrs Buckton, we were just studying I swear."  
"Yeah okay" Charlie wasn't quite sure what to say. She had never been put in this position before. "But you can just call me Charlie"  
The boy offered a small smile, obviously still nervous. "Casey"

Charlie smiled "Well nice to meet you Casey, and I don't mean to break up the fun but it's quite late, maybe you should be getting home. I'm sure your parents would be worried about you."  
At the mention of the word parents Charlie noticed a slight shift in Casey's stance. She wasn't sure why, nor did she question it.  
"Yeah sure, Sorry again." Casey picked up his bag before offering Ruby a smile "I'll see you later maybe?"  
"Yeah of course" She replied. Ruby was obviously attracted to this boy and Charlie could see it a mile away. The redness that formed on Casey's cheeks at her eager reply hinted that he fancied her too. Charlie couldn't help but smile to herself, she wanted nothing more than for Ruby to be happy.

As Casey walked out he door Charlie turned to Ruby. "Look, although you thought you had gotten out of this because you weren't in fact alone, you are wrong. You shouldn't have someone here, especially a boy, without telling me." Despite the sternness of Charlie's voice, Ruby felt as though it was a shallow scolding due to the smile evident on her mothers face.  
"Yes Mum, Okay Mum, I'll never do it again Mum." Ruby's expression held a grin. She never called Charlie mum unless she was joking, or if it was something extremely serious.  
"I'm not kidding Ruby"  
"Yeah okay Charlie, We were just studying though. Casey is new to school and I wanted him to feel welcomed."  
Charlie couldn't help but remain smiling if nothing more than her daughter had grown into such a kind hearted young woman. Despite her lack of parental guidance in the past few years, Ruby had really blossomed into a person Charlie couldn't even begin to express her proudness of.  
"I believe you, just let me know next time" Charlie said "Now get to bed, it's late" she placed a quick kiss on her daughters temple before they both parted ways down the hall.  
"Night Charlie" Ruby called.  
"Night Rubes" her mother smiled in return.

* * *

It was nearing midnight as Casey entered his house trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Where the hell have you been?" Bellowed Brax before Casey could even turn the lights on.

Casey sighed heavy "Will you relax, I've just been at a friends house studying."

Brax got up from the couch and walked over to his brother. "You've been at that school for what, one week and you're already staying out late with them?" His voice sounded concerned but his smile told a different story. Brax always knew Casey was going to turn out different from him and Heath, Casey was the smart one. He had a lot going for him, one being he was and never will be involved with the River Boys gang. Brax wanted better for him than that.  
"I'm sorry I should have let you know" Casey said apologetically "But I didn't want her to think I was under some sort of curfew for doing something bad or whatever, especially since our last name and bad news go hand in hand to people around here."  
"Did you just say her?" Brax grinned at Casey's obliviousness "You got a girl already mate?"

Casey laughed awkwardly, "No chance, she's out of my league. We're just friends"

"No one is out of your league ay, us Braxton's might have a rep, but you're better than that, unlike your idiot brother"

As if on cue Heath waltzed through the front door "Ah G'day Case, How's ya boring night home been? Didn't watch too many movies did ya?"

"You're Drunk Heath, standard for you though" Casey spat back at his brother.

Trying to avoid conflict before it even started Brax interjected "Shut up the both of ya, Heath go clean yourself up you bloody idiot" he chucked at his brothers filthy appearance. Torn shirt, ripped jeans, covered in mud. Anyone would take a look at him and think he was homeless.

"Aye Aye Captain!" Heath saluted at Brax before stumbling down the hall way.  
Casey frowned and shook his head before turing to Brax, "So he can come in looking like a disgrace and get's nothing, and I come home from studying and I get in trouble." He scoffed before turning towards his room "This is bullshit."

"Oi!" Brax called forcing Casey to turn around. "First of all, I knew exactly where Heath was all night whereas I thought you were here and I came home to an empty house. I was scared shitless mate, I didn't know what could have happened to ya. Second, no one in the Bay would go near Heath when he's acting like a hooligan, they all know what he is like and that he is apart of the boys. You're just a kid, it's not safe"

"Then let me be apart of the boys!" Casey pleaded "Brax you know I can hold my own these days"

"Nah mate, I don't want that ay, I just want you to stick to school and make something out of yourself. You deserve better than this." Brax motioned around to the near empty house.

Apart from the two mismatched couches in the lounge room, an old coffee table, a fridge, a TV and three old beds, the Braxton house was full of nothing. Embarrassed about their standard of living, Brax never let people over. He didn't want people to think any less of him or his brothers because of everything they lacked. Their parent's left and never returned when Brax was 17, leaving him to look after a 15 year old and a 3 year old. No explanation and no money, Brax was left to bring up his brothers alone, therefore he made sure he did everything he could to make sure they lived normal lives. As Heath was old enough to rebel against his older brother, if Brax wasn't going to school neither was Heath, so they both dropped out to save money. The guilt that Brax had felt since the day they were abandoned drove him to give everything he had into Casey. If he was going to do one thing right, it would be to make sure Casey grew up to make something out of himself.

"I'm old enough to make my own choices Brax! There are boys in the gang that are younger than me and you let them in with open arms" Casey was angry and it was evident in the tone of his voice.

"Those kids had no other choice, just like me and Heath. You do, you have the opportunity to be something and I'll be damned if I let you throw that away"

"What if I don't want to be anything else? What if I want to grow up to be just like the guy who has taken care of me my whole life" A tear fell from the boy's cheek and Brax felt his heart skip. Casey had looked up to him his whole life, he was like a father figure. Knowing that Casey felt that way towards him made Brax feel bad about not letting him in the gang, but also strengthened his feelings towards making sure Casey succeeded.

"You don't wanna be like me mate, trust me"

"You're doing alright if you ask me. That's beside the point anyway, you let everyone else in and leave your own brother out. Am I not good enough for you or something?" more tears feel down Casey's face causing Brax to break. "Not good enough for mum and dad to stay! Not good enough to stay in school at Mangrove river! and now not good enough for you!" His voice broke as he screamed at Brax. His face of sheer devastation.

"Case! You are good enough! You're more than good enough! That's why you can't be apart of the boys." Brax stepped towards his brother only to have him step further away. "Please Case, I know this has all been hard on ya, but you've gotta understand."  
"I understand alright. You'll see one day Brax, I'll prove to you that I belong with the River Boys." and with that, Casey turned on his heels into his room, slamming the door behind him.

Brax stood still dumbfounded by what had just occurred. His night was just a big whirlwind of emotions with the fights at Angelo's, the confrontation with Charlie Buckton and now this fight with Casey. _Sort ya self out mate _he thought to himself. Knowing there was nothing he could do tonight, he followed suit and walked himself to bed pushing all negative thoughts out of his mind. Thinking that would allow him to sleep with ease he closed his eyes, but forcing all the negative thoughts left only the positive. The positive essence of the evening was plastered in his mind, making it impossible for him to sleep. All he could see was Charlie.

* * *

_**That's Chapter 3.  
Ruby and Casey have now been introduced into the story, but Charlie doesn't know Casey is a Braxton.  
Casey want's to be a river boy like his brothers and said he will prove it to brax... What is he going to do?**_

_**The next few chapters will be pretty focused on Charlie and Brax, with a bit of Casey.**_

So, What do you think? :) Review and Follow! It means so much to me, and I love hearing what everyone thinks.. and suggestions will definitely be considered :)


	4. Chapter 4

**[Thank you so much for the reviews and PM's! It really keeps me going and i get so excited when i get a notification for them haha! Sorry for the wait on this chapter, I have been at uni all week and haven't had the time. But hopefully you all enjoy it, and the Chax]**

* * *

**_Chapter 4_**

Over the next few weeks Charlie was constantly assigned to cases that may involve the River Boys. Despite her persistent pushing against her superiors claiming she had more important things to do, he always happened to end up where she didn't want to be. Luckily none of the cases involved the Braxton brothers, just their gang of misfits. Well she kept telling herself it was lucky, but there was always this sense of disappointment whenever she pulled up and the eldest brother wasn't grinning in her direction.

Finally today Charlie had a day off, and she couldn't wait to spend it with Ruby. It was the first time in a long time that the two of them were both free enough to spend the day together. Waking up at a lazy eleven o'clock, she rolled out of bed and went to put some trackies on as her phone rang. _Not today, please._

_"_Sergeant Buckton" She spoke as she placed the phone on loud speaker.

"Good Morning Charlie" Joyce replied "I'm really sorry to bother you on your day off, but Samuel's called in sick and there is a disturbance at the surf club."

"Surely someone else can cover it, I promised my daughter we would spend the day together" Charlie pleaded with the inspector but he didn't budge.

"Sorry Sergeant, but everyone else is occupied. Besides you are the best at dealing with these folk, I'm sure you can settle what ever is happening with no time."

"But sir.."

"No buts, get down there now." and with that he hung up.

_'I just can't catch a break' _She thought to herself as she put down her track pants and throw her phone on her bed. Slipping into her uniform she tied up her long hair into a loose pony tail pulling out a few to frame her face.

"Ruby!" Charlie called as she walked out of her room.

"Yeah? What?" her daughter called back from the lounge room.

"I'm so sorry, but I've been called into work, those bloody river boys haven't failed to ruin my day even on my day off" she sighed, anger laced her voice.

"No it's okay, I'll just go see Casey, he asked me down to the beach to help me with my surfing." Ruby quickly replied.

"Oh I see how it is, you were going to bail on me anyway weren't you" Charlie said as her eyebrow raised.

Ruby grinned cheekily, "No not at all! I told Casey I couldn't but now that you are busy, I'll have to just call him back."

"mmm okay, anyway I better head off before Joyce has my head"

"Have fuuuuuun" Ruby laughed at her mothers misfortune before grabbing her surf board and running out the door.

Charlie just shook her head as she hopped into her car and made her way to the surf club.

* * *

As she pulled up in the car park she was met by a very angry John Palmer and a distressed Colleen Smart. Charlie sighed and rolled her eyes discretely, knowing that this was going to be a weak case. The pair had constantly called the police on the River Boys for things they would let the locals get away with, obviously they had a vendetta against them.

"Thank god you're here" Colleen shrieked as Charlie stepped out of her car

John nodded in agreement, "Yes thank god, but you took your time officer"

"Well i wasn't really expecting to get called in on my one day off Mr. Palmer, so I hope you can forgive my timing" Charlie raised her eyebrow at the man, obviously not impressed.

"Well those rowdy hooligans have done it this time nonetheless Sergeant" The small elderly lady spoke shaking her finger over at the group of boys standing by the entry to the surf club.

"She's right you know" John added "I'm sure you have the right to arrest a few of them after today"

"I'll need to know what the situation is before I go arresting people, so what happened?" Charlie took out her pocket notepad and a pen ready to record statements from the frantic pair.

"Well Colleen was just minding her own business, strolling down the beach when one of those bloody imbeciles jumped her" John recounted with an obvious frown on his face.

Charlie looked at the pair, unsure if they were over reacting to a poor joke at Mrs Smart's expense or if it was a genuine crime. "What do you mean 'Jumped her' Mr Palmer? Did they try and rob you Colleen?"

Catching a glimpse of the River Boys mocking Mrs Smart obviously re-enacting the scene that must have taken place.

Tears filled Colleen's eyes "It scared the life out of me Charlie. They jumped out and surrounded me before demanding I give them my hand bag."

"It's true, I saw it with my own eyes." John interjected "That's when I hurried over to help"

Maybe this was a genuine call, maybe Charlie can finally book a few of them to put them back in their place. "Did they touch you Mrs Smart?"

"They were pushing me between the lot of them. I was surrounded with no escape!"

Charlie grinned to herself subtlety, half because Colleen was quite amusing when she was upset, and half because she can finally punish the River Boys with an actual assault charge. "Okay, wait here Mrs Smart, I will go talk to the boys responsible. Can you point out which ones played major parts in the incident?"

Colleen pointed to two or three boys who laughed at the sight before them. Charlie nodded at her direction before speaking "Thank you, maybe go inside the surf club and I'll come find you once I've sorted this out."

John and Colleen hurried inside the surf club only to settle themselves at the window, enabling them to see everything that was about to occur. Charlie approached the large grip of surfy boys now standing on the grass. As she walked towards them a few made inappropriate remarks and most of them wolf whistled at her. Unflattered by the noises she thought to herself how unattractive these boys attitudes are.

"Hello Officer" One of the boys spoke stepping towards Charlie, "What can can a bunch of good looking blokes, do for a lovely looking lady like yourself today?"

Charlie knew exactly who he was, Brodie Upton, she'd had to deal with him plenty of times before. Today he clearly in control of the group, stepping in as leader as neither of the Braxton brothers were present again. Charlie could feel the sense of disappointment rise in her again as she scanned the group for those green eyes she could so vividly remember.

Another of the boys spoke "I can think of many things you could do for us"

The comment caused an eruption of laughter from the River Boys.

"Unless one of them is taking you all down to the station, I'm not interested" Charlie shot the boy a look of disgust. "You all know exactly why I'm here. Do you want to tell me what happened with Mrs. Smart earlier?"

"Oh come on Sarge, the lady is nuts!" Brodie spoke again, "We were simply asking her how her day was and she freaked out saying she was going to call the police."

Charlie address the boy directly "Well that's not what Mrs. Smart said happened, or Mr Palmer."

"Well that's the truth Miss. I solemnly swear!" The boy lifted his hand to rest on his chest with a wide spread grin.

"Do you think this is a joke Mr. Upton? You've scared the life out of out on elderly woman, and there is word of suspected physical assault."

"What do you mean physical assault ma'am? What like we touched her?" Brodie took a step forward, now only inches away from Charlie. Despite Charlie's training and knowledge in self defence she felt her heart skip a beat.

"That's what I've heard." She replied keeping a poker face to hide her fear.

"Not a chance Buckton, she's not really my type" A smirk washed over Brodie's face causing the air to leave Charlie's lungs. "You on the other hand." he chuckled to himself. "A guy can be held accountable for his actions around a woman like you"

His raised his hand towards Charlie's face, the grin never departing his. She felt as if she was frozen for a spilt second, her body completely overtaken by fear. Before she could even react a voice caused Brodie to stop.

"Touch her, and you'll regret it!"

The voice was all too familiar to Charlie. The boys stepped back, the grin leaving their face immediately. Brax stepped into view looking at Charlie cautiously, looking at her in a way that she knew he was asking if she was okay. She nodded slightly before stepping back to compose herself. Her heart started racing, both from fear and embarrassment.

"Brax I was just joking around" Brodie said nervously "I would never have.."

"You'd hope not ay" Brax cutting him of, his voice stern as he turned to face Brodie "Cause you'd wished you hadn't if I ever found out about it. And you know I would find out."

The boys all nodded their heads and once again took a step further away from Brax. He turned to face Charlie again, "Okay so apart from that dick head, what was the initial problem?"

"We received a call and a detailed description of an assault on Mrs. Colleen Smart" Charlie spoke softly avoiding his stare.

"What do you mean assault?" Brax raised an eyebrow at her words

"Physical. There was also intention of robbery. We have witness's so unfortunately for your Boys, one or more is definitely going to take the fall for this one." Charlie looked directly at Brax "And after that charade, Brodie might be in for a bit more than he bargained for."

Brax sighed and shook his head "They were just mucking around, Let me talk to Mrs Smart and I'm sure we can come to an agreement."

"He's getting done, if not for what happened to Mrs Smart, then for what he just did to me then"

Brax took a step closer to her "Let me talk to him first, cool them all off and I assure you that it will never happen again"

Charlie shook her head, "Not good enough"

"Fine, book Brodie, but there is no need to take them all down the station." Brax motioned towards Brodie "And he doesn't have to go either, he admits what happened, don't ya mate?" He turned his glare to the boy.

"Yeah" Brodie's reply was laced with fear. Charlie wasn't sure how Brax had such an effect on these boys, the fear that he instills within them yet they respect and love him.

"See" his eyes came back in contact with Charlie's "Look, I'll come down with you and give you a statement of what I witnessed, that'll be good enough for now right?"

Charlie nodded, as it was the only thing she could bring herself to do. It was like he had some kind of control over her that she couldn't break, and she wasn't sure she wanted to.

Brax turned back to the boys "Get out of here the lot of ya, If I see or hear of any of you around here for the next 24 hours I'll have ya heads!" He turned to Brodie "And I'll deal with you later"

The boys were quick to make themselves scarce, obeying the orders of Brax. After there was not a single River Boy in sight, Brax turned to face Charlie once more. "Are you alright?" his voice was soft and compassionate.

"Yeah I'm fine" she said avoiding his gaze, trying to hide her fear.

But Brax could see right through her guard, he knew she was a strong woman, but something about her encounter with Brodie brought all her walls crashing down and he couldn't understand why. He stood still for a moment, staring at her as she walked inside the surf club garage before he quickly followed. She wasn't sure why she chose the garage, maybe because to was out of sight. She didn't want anyone to see her at such a vulnerable state, especially not Brax. As she entered she pulled the door closed behind her only for it to be reopened allowing Brax to slip through. They were entirely alone and out of sight and the thought of that made Charlie's heart rate quicken. Unbeknownst to her, Brax was feeling the same. Standing only centimetres behind her he spoke again.

"Charlie I know you're lying"

The simple fact that he used her name caused goosebumps to form all down her arms. She didn't respond as she was unable to form words. Due to her lack of reply Brax continued.

"I've never known you to not put those boys in their place" His eyes met hers

"What would you know? You haven't even been there when I dealt with them!"

"Did that disappoint you?" He said softly

"What?" Charlie took a few steps away from him before she turned to look him in the eye. _Was she that easy to see through?_

"Ya know, cause I'm definitely the best looking out of that bunch"

The smile on his face caused the corners of her mouth to curl up slightly, glad that he was intending that as a joke.

"You wish"

"Nah I know, ten times hotter than any one of those blokes, that's why I'm the leader. We needed a good looking front man" he chuckled

Charlie laughed too.

"See there it is" He said softly

She looked at him in confusion "There what is?"

"That smile that had me hooked the second I saw you"

As the words left his lips Charlie felt her knees weaken and her heart pound her chest all at once. _What did he just say. _The hair on the back of her neck stood tall when she saw the dimples form on his cheeks as he smiled softly at her. There seriously was something different about this man, how is he a River Boy. For a split second Charlie snapped out of the trance Brax had put her in and turned back into a cop.

"Don't think smooth talking me will get your boys out of this Mr, Braxton. I don't fall for smooth talk like many girls probably have." Charlie spoke sternly but her voice made it evident she didn't mean a word of what she was saying.

Brax took another step towards her "Don't pretend like you don't feel this just as much as I do"

"Like I told you before, I'm not interested in River Boys"

"But like I told you before, I'm not your average River Boy"

Hoping she believed him, he took one more step towards her closing the gap between them. Despite his confident appearance Brax could feel his heart beating a million miles a minute. He was so close to her that he could feel her breath against him. _What are you doing? _He thought to himself. _She is off limits! If the boys found out.. _His thoughts were interrupted as heard her step back into the wall.

_Don't let him any closer _She thought as she stepped back into the wall. _Pushing him away and run. _She was thinking all these things but her hands and feet wouldn't respond and it wasn't out of fear it was something else. _He is a River Boy, He's off limits! _Charlie tried to talk herself out of the feelings that had evolved within her.

Going out on a whim, Brax lifted his hand to caress her face, wanting just to feel the softness of her skin.

"Touch me, and **you'll **regret it!" She spoke reciting his words from outside

"No" He replied "I can't ever imagine regretting touching you"

The soft smile that appeared on his face has he spoke caused Charlie to loose all sense of control. His green eyes burning into hers causing her knees to weaken as his hand came into contact with her face. She pulled away, once again snapping out of it. She grabbed his arm and swung him around so he now was pushed up against the wall. She curled his arm up behind his back making it hard for him to move, his face pushed against the wall. Something about her strength only made Brax more attracted to her. No matter what she did, he couldn't just give up.

"If I let go, are you going to behave?" She asked.

Brax paused for a minute before responding "Nah" as he shook his head

An overwhelming sense of relief washed upon her_ I don't want him to behave _she thought to herself. She slowly released her grip on him, giving into her feelings. Brax turned around slowly to face her, surprised that she hadn't stepped further away. As their eyes met once again, they both felt the same rush of adrenaline. Brax lifted his hand to her face again, this time she didn't pull away. Smiling softly, the dimples reappeared on his cheeks, and that was Charlie's final straw. He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck pulling her closer and crashing their lips together. His other hand found it's way around her waist and forced her body into his. She responded quickly, lacing her fingers behind his head in his hair.

* * *

**So that's Chapter 4!**

**What did you think?  
Charlie and Brax have shared their First Kiss! Naws!  
Brodie and Charlie have had their first run in, and there will be lots more to come..  
What do you think will happen?**

**Thanks for reading!  
Review, Follow and Favourite! It means the world to me :) **

* * *

**P.S - I'm going away this weekend to Sydney (Im from adelaide) to see the Lion King musical, WOO!  
****and then i have a big party also cause it's my friends birthday, so i wont be able to update for a few days!  
Sorry! But hopefully when i do, it'll be worth the wait!**


	5. Chapter 5

**So so sorry for the late update on this, It's been a couple weeks but I have been so busy with Uni. Thanks for all the reviews and follows though, They mean a lot to me and I will get around to replying personally as soon as I can. This Chapter isn't my best work, but I needed to get this out the way and I didn't know how else to do it. It's made up of mostly dialogue, but hopefully next chapter will make up for it. Enjoy x**

* * *

**_Chapter 5_**

Charlie was first to break the connection, separating their lips. Both breathing heavily from the passionate kiss they had just shared, it took a few seconds before either of them spoke.

"What's wrong?" Brax questioned her, his heart still pounding against his chest.

Charlie shook her head and forced her gaze to the ground, avoiding eye contact with the man standing before her. She could feel her hands shaking, and her knees feeling weak. The hair on the back of her neck and on her arms were standing on their ends as her heart was beating a million miles a minute. She hadn't felt that way in a long time; a very long time. _What is happening to me? _she thought the herself as she questioned the way her body was reacting to the situation she found herself in. Unable to find the words to explain why she pulled away, she didn't speak at all. Her eyes remained fixated on the ground in front of her.

Brax took a step towards her, "Charlie?" he spoke as her lifted his hand to her chin.

She flinched at his touch and took a step back. Using the only words she could think of she put an end to her silence. "I can't do it."

"Do what?"

"This. You. It's not right." Her eyes found his for the first time since she tore away from him.

Brax took a step towards her "It felt pretty right to me, how could it not feel right to you?" his eyes pleading with hers. "There has to be a bigger picture here"

Charlie felt her chest tighten. _Am I seriously that easy to read? Surely he couldn't know. _She quickly thought of an alternative excuse to avoid to truth.

"I'm a police officer, and you're…" she paused

He scoffed at her remarks, "And I'm what? A crook?"

Charlie didn't answer him, but her silence spoke louder than words.

"Tell me this Charlie, how many times have you had to deal with a criminal offence that actually involved me?" a slight sense of anger laced his voice.

"Your family has an extensive criminal past" she replied "Heath is under suspicion right now!"

"That's Heath! That's not me.."

Charlie cut off his words, "You're well known at the station, and not in a good way."

Brax scoffed again, "Why because I try and keep my brothers out of lock up?"

"He broke the law!" Charlie's voice was getting angrier, "And when someone breaks the law, they need to pay the consequences, and someone who gets in the way of our job doesn't sit right in the eyes of everyone at the station!"

"What am I meant to do Charlie? What kind of person lets their family go to prison without trying to stop it?"

"A law-abiding person." Charlie's words came out harsh, and for the first time Brax couldn't see her the way he always had. She was cold.

"Okay so you'd sit back and let your daughter go down for a bullshit crime?"

Charlie looked at him in disgust "How dare you bring Ruby into this!"

"Answer the question Charlie!" Brax was yelling now, but Charlie didn't answer. "Answer the goddamn question!"

"Of course not!" Charlie screamed back.

"Then how can you try and make me out to be the bad guy!"

"It's different! I'm her parent!"

"I'M ALL THEY'VE GOT!" Brax shouted and it echoed throughout the garage.

Charlie was stunned silent. _What does he mean he's all they've got? Whose they?_

Brax tried to catch his breath. In this moment, standing before the one person who had ever made him feel anything, he was shaking. He was vulnerable. Charlie's eyes found his, and he found his confidence falter. His walls came crashing down for the first time since that dreadful day they had left and he felt like she could see straight through it all.

Charlie felt her breath catch in her throat at the broken look on the man who she always knew was so strong. Every encounter with him in the past he had always seemed so strong; nothing in the world could weaken his confidence or his power. But she had finally found the one thing that could. The one thing he cared about more than himself. His brother. _He said they._

The words left her lips barely above a whisper, "What do you mean? Whose they?"

Her voice brought him back to reality, "Nah, just forget about it" he spat his words, "You're right, this wont work, sorry for wasting your precious time officer."

Charlie felt it like a ton of bricks. Guilt. What ever she had said tore him down, and she felt sick in the stomach. Brax turned towards the door to leave, and without think Charlie raised her hand to stop him. "Brax.."

He quickly shrugged her hand off, "Nah forget it." and with that he disappeared out the door, leaving Charlie alone in the surf club garage.

* * *

"Ruby.." Charlie's voice was shaky and quite as she tried to avoid her daughter seeing her sobs. "Rubes are you awake?"

"Huh?" Ruby lifted her head off her pillow to check the clock on her bedside table, "Charlie is 12:30, I have school tomorrow."

"Yeah sorry, go back to slee-ep" Her voice broke, causing Ruby to turn her light on.

"What's going on?"

Charlie broke down, letting to tears she'd held in roll down her cheeks.

"Charlie, whats wrong?" Ruby said as she jumped out of bed to console her mother.

Charlie couldn't form words, she just cried. "Hey shh, it's alright" The teenager spoke softly, stroking her mothers hair as she directed them over to sit on her bed. "It's okay, talk to me."

After a few minutes, Charlie's sobs subsided and she started to breathe regularly, "I was so scared."

"Scared of what? What happened?" Ruby's voice was cautious. Her and Charlie hadn't always had the best relationship, but over the past few years hey had gotten a bit closer.

"After all these years I thought I would have gotten over it. I thought i was strong enough to handle it. But today I just crumbled." Tears began to fall from her eyes once more.

"What's going on? Just start from the beginning! I'm here, talk to me!"

"Rubes you've got to understand, I was just a kid." Charlie looked at her with pleading eyes.

Ruby shook her head confused, "What are you talking about?"

"You said start from the beginning, so I am."

"Okay.." Ruby held her mothers hand.

Charlie took a deep breathe, preparing herself for what she was about to relive. "I haven't been completely honest with you."

"What do you mean?" a frown formed on Ruby's face.

"You know, when I told you about us. About how my boyfriend and I weren't careful, and that's how we had you?" Charlie's eyes were bloodshot red.

"Yeah, I know, we've been through it Charlie. It doesn't change a thing, I may have been angry at first, but I'm not anymore Mum."

"No Rubes, I know, and you know I wouldn't trade you for anything and I love you so much"

"I love you too" Ruby smiled

Charlie smiled back and squeezed her daughters hand before speaking again, "I know I promised I was going to tell you the truth, but I didn't."

Ruby paused for a bit, feeling her heart skip a beat, "Why not?"

"Because it was so hard for me to relive, and I didn't think I was strong enough, I didn't want you to bare my burden." Charlie looked at the ground, "It wasn't that we weren't careful."

"What are you talking about Charlie.."

"I'm so sorry" Charlie started to sob.

Ruby grabbed her mothers face, forcing her to look up so their eyes made contact. "Charlie, nothing you say with ever make me love you less okay, I just want the truth."

"I was raped Ruby."

Ruby found herself frozen solid. No matter how much she tried to move she couldn't bring herself too. Thoughts buzzing around in her head, she was a product of pure evil. After a few moments she turned to her mother who was hysterically crying.

"Im so sorry Ruby" Charlie cried.

Realising she hadn't reacted to her mother yet, Ruby quickly threw her arms around her in a tight embrace. "Oh god Charlie, don't be sorry! None of this was your fault!"

"I lied to you, I promised you that I told you the truth but I lied."

"How could I blame you for that? I understand completely, I need you to know that nothing changes." Ruby caught her mothers gaze once more. "I love you, remember that."

"I love you too, and I'm so lucky you are you!"

The pair hugged each other for what felt like hours before Ruby spoke again.

"Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you telling me, but I don't understand why?"

Finally that weight was off her shoulders and Ruby knew the truth. Charlie sighed knowing she had composed herself, and was able to speak to her daughter about her situation.

"Today at work, I had to deal with a bunch of the River Boys at the surf club, and one of them made a move towards me. The way he spoke was disgusting, but I was in control until he said something.." Charlie paused.

Confused, Ruby asked, "What did he say?"

"He said - _A guy can't be held accountable for his actions around a woman like you - _and that's exactly what the man who raped me said to me."

"What?! Did you report him?! Oh my god Charlie!" Ruby started to get angry.

"Yeah I am going to, I just didn't get around to it today."

"What else happened? What did you do after he said that?"

Charlie breathed out softly remembering what happened next, "I was frozen stiff scared, but before he could do anything, someone stopped him." She looked at her daughter, "One of the other River Boys, the leader in fact."

"Why would he do that?" Ruby questioned.

"He wasn't there before, it happened when he arrived and he stopped him from doing anything."

Ruby smiled at Charlie, "That's good isn't it? At least he is a decent human being."

"yeah, I think he is."

a small smile formed on Charlie's face, and Ruby took advantage of the gesture. "You think huh?"

Charlie continued, "Yeah I mean, I've had a lot to do with his family, but never him. So I guess i can't hold much against him."

"Ahh I see, I see. So what does this guy look like? Just so I know which ones not to be scared of ya' know." Ruby grinned.

Completely oblivious to Ruby's intentions, Charlie described Brax's appearance, "He's tall, he's got brown hair and quite muscular. He has a few tattoo's, but nothing to extreme like a few of the others. And he has these bright green eyes, like the greenest eyes I have ever seen, they are like the colour of the sea, which is where he spend most of his time I reckon, considering I always see him in a wetsuit and a surfboard."

Ruby began to laugh at her mothers ignorance towards question, causing Charlie to realise what was really going on.

"Oh don't even start" Charlie chuckled, glad that her daughter had been able to put a smile on her face.

"Hey, we are having an honest conversation aren't we? What happened with Mr. Knight in shining wetsuit?" Ruby giggled.

"None of your business! Nothing happened, and nothing will ever happen!"

"Ow, why not? He sounds dreamy" Ruby mocked.

"I'm a police officer; I can't be seen with a River Boy." Charlie's face turned a little more serious.

Ruby continues to smile, "Oh come on, he sounds like he is different to the others, I mean he pretty much saved you."

"He did not save me!" Charlie's voice soften as she spoke, "Besides, he is probably like everyone else."

Ruby became more serious when she could see her mothers face change, "Mum, not everyone is going to hurt you."

Charlie sighed, "I haven't been able to feel comfortable with anyone Rubes, it's hard to explain."

Ruby nodded her head, "No I understand"

"He just does something to me that I can't explain, and when we kissed.."

"YOU KISSED?!" Ruby smiled, overly excited about the information her mother just let slip.

Charlie was quick to shut her down, "Yeah but I freaked out! I wasn't in the right head space to deal with male interaction. And we exchanged words, and I'm pretty sure I ruined any chance that I may have had."

Ruby's smile dropped a little, "Yeah but you can fix it I bet"

Charlie shook her head, "No I can't, and it's for the best. I'm a police officer, and he is a River Boy. It could ruin my career."

Ruby nodded at her, "He doesn't sound like your average River Boy."

Charlie smiled at her words, "He said the same thing"

"I guess he likes you too." Ruby smiled, "Look, you do what you want, but I know what I'd be doing. I wouldn't let much get in the way of a boy I liked"

Charlie took the opportunity just like her daughter, "Speaking of boys you like, how's Casey going?

Ruby blushed at her mothers words and quickly jumped back into bed, "I dont know what you're talking about, but it's late and I have school tomorrow, Goodnight mum!" and she turned out the lights.

Charlie laughed at her avoidance, "You can't avoid this chat forever. I was open with you, and tomorrow, you will be open with me." She stood and walked over to the door before turning back to her daughter, "I love you Rubes"

"I love you too Mum, thanks for being honest with me"

"And thanks for being you" Charlie smiled.

Ruby pulled the covers over her head causing her next words to muffle, "And Casey is great."

"I'm glad, I expect to meet him properly, dinner tomorrow if he's not busy"

"Okay, I'll let him know, Night Charlie"

"Night Rubes" Charlie chuckled to herself as she walked out the room.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey Guys! Thanks for staying tuned, the story will start to heat up from here on in! :) Thanks for all the reviews and pm's, they are what keeps me going. I can't wait for this to start getting into the swing of things and for you all the find out what happens next :)**

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**_Chapter 6_**

Brax had been wondering along the beach for hours, now he found himself sitting on the sand, looking out to the unseeable horizon. It was past midnight, and he hadn't been home since before the incident with Charlie. He continuously played it over in his head, the way she reacted with Brodie, and the way she acted towards him in the garage. He knew she could feel what he was feeling, how could she not. The feeling that filled his stomach whenever he thought about her, or the way his knees weakened under her gaze was something he had never felt before. He had never allowed himself to feel. But something about Charlie made all his walls come crashing down, and he couldn't get enough of her.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" a familiar voice caused Brax to turn around.

The middle Braxton brother stood with his hands placed firmly on his hips, "You do know it's almost one in the morning right? I swear Casey is about to cry."

Brax's gaze returned to the ocean, "He's a big boy, I'm sure he can deal without me for a night."

"I dunno man" Heath laughed, "He's not as tough as us."

Brax shook his head, "He is tougher than both of us put together."

Brax's words made Heath laugh louder, "Yeah okay, how man cans have you downed tonight? Want me to dial a driver?"

"Nah mate I'm being serious. Casey has grown up without any parents, and he is about to graduate from high school. He's had it tough, done things we never did and he has done it without a bunch of lads to back him up."

Heaths silence proved that he understood what Brax was saying, and deep down he knew he was right. Casey was the smartest out of them all, and probably the most mature.

The silence latest a few moments before Heath spoke "You hear he's got a girl?"

"Yeah?" Brax looked at his younger sibling, "The one he was studying with the other day?"

"Yeah… I'm sure they were studying" Heath scoffed causing his brother to join in laughing.

"Nah I think they were really studying, he said he didn't have a chance with her when I asked him about it." Brax smiled to himself, "Good on him."

"Yeah well he has been keeping it pretty quiet, but I heard him talking to her on the phone. She must have asked him out for dinner or something tomorrow night, but said he had stuff to do so he scheduled friday or something."

Brax turned to face Heath, "Do you reckon we should talk to him?"

A confused look washed over Heath's face, "What do you mean?"

"You know, if he has a girlfriend now" Brax's looked at the floor sheepishly, "Maybe we need to.. ya know.. have the talk"

"Oh hell no!" Heath started pacing backwards away from his brother waving his hands to indicate he didn't want to be involve. "Count me out of that! If you want to have the chat, be my guest, you're pretty much the kids dad. I'm just the good looking older brother."

Brax laughed at Heath's obvious awkwardness towards the subject, "Well I'm you're older brother, and I had the chat with you, it's your turn."

"Woah! Let's never talk about that ever again, and sorry bro, not happening. I'm out man, come home before Case calls a search party!" and with that, Heath walked back to his car and headed home.

"Yeah I'll head home now." Brax called. He stood to his feet and glanced back at the ocean before turning towards his car too.

* * *

**_[Friday]_**

"What's the problem this time Palmer?" Brax rolled his eyes as he turned to face the man standing behind him.

"You and your good-for-nothing pack of hooligans, thats the problem!" John Palmer was making a fuss again, in front of everyone at the surf club.

Brax face turned slightly stern as he spoke, "Look mate, we're here to stay and they doing nothing wrong." Brax motioned towards the bunch of River Boys at the pool table, "Now I'm getting pretty sick and tired of you pestering my lads."

"You and I must have a pretty different definition of 'wrong' then Mr. Braxton." John shook his finger at Brodie, "He was being quite provoking towards out of my staff on the surf today and then I saw him doing a deal in the locker room."

Brax scoffed, "Oh so now you're throwing accusations around. And what kind of deal would that have been I wonder?"

"You know exactly what kind of deal with was!" John raised his voice.

"Brodie!" Brax called the boy over to where he was standing with John, "Please explain the deal you were doing in the locker room earlier."

Brodie looked at Brax and then at John, "Uh, I was speaking to a guy about parts for my car." His gaze returned to Brax, "I told you about that man?"

Brax nodded, "No I know you told me, but Mr. Palmer believes it was something suspicious, I just thought you to explain to him."

John quickly retorted Brodie's alibi, "Then what was the small package he gave you? Too small to be a part of a car if you ask me."

"Well good thing no one was asking you old man!" anger washed over Brodie's face. It was very clear that Brodie had a short temper and was quick to react to situations without thinking it through.

Brax shot a look at Brodie, obviously asking him to get out of sight, before returning his gaze to John, "See, nothing to worry about. No illegal activity going on, so do us all a favour and step off."

"I'll let the authorities decide what illegal behaviour is going on thank you very much" John frowned.

Brax took a step forwards, "No one wants that mate."

"Why not?" the voice from behind Brax silenced him as he turned around to face her.

Charlie was standing a metre away in her police uniform. He couldn't help his breath catch in his throat at the sight of her. Even with her hair tied back and a loose fitting shirt, she still was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It was talking him everything he had to stay away from her, or at least not let his feelings be obvious.

"Oh great, just who I wanted to see" Brax rolled his eyes. Even though his tone was sarcastic, he couldn't help but feel the truth in his words, "It's the third time I've had the pleasure of seeing you this week, and I must say, each time it gets better and better."

His words stung as Charlie took them in, she hadn't stopped thinking about him since their encounter at the surf club on sunday, and being called out to every River Boy incident did not help. She wanted to be honest with him, but he was making it extremely obvious he didn't want anything to do with her.

"I'm here to answer a disturbance call." She said as she turned to face Brax, "and trust me, I wouldn't call dealing with you lot a pleasure."

_That was a lie. _There was no denying the sensation in her stomach every time their eyes caught each other.

"Yeah you made that pretty obvious."

Charlie knew exactly what he was referring to, and the pang of guilt hit her again. She could see the images of a broken man replying over in her mind.

"Mr. Braxton, I think we should have this conversation without the audience" Charlie nodded towards the River Boys who were listening intently.

"You're the boss" Brax spoke without making eye contact with her, "Boys I'll see you all tomorrow, get out of here."

The river boys nodded and wolf whistled as they walked past Charlie, but she didn't even flinch. The actions had no effect on her like they had intended. They had the opposite effect; they made Brax uncomfortable.

"Shall we?" Brax waved towards the entrance to Angelo's, causing Charlie to look at him confused.

"It's closed, you can't go up there" Charlie frowned at him.

Brax grinned cheekily, "I can do whatever I want Buckton, I half own the joint."

"You what?" a look of shock took up Charlie's face as she stood stunned at what Brax had just said. "Since when?"

"Since none of your business, so let's get this over with."

The pair of them walked up stairs to an empty Angelo's and took as seat in a booth near the bar.

"You want a drink?" Brax asked her, still putting on the brave face.

Charlie simply shook her head. She was dumbfounded at the information she was taking in.

"So whats the story here? You want to search all my boys to see if they have any drugs or whatnot?" Brax lounged back in the booth, trying to act as casual as possible. His knees were shaking beneath the table, but luckily Charlie couldn't see.

"If they were innocent, you would have no trouble with me doing that. But conveniently, you just cleared them all out, so I doubt if I saw any of them now they would be stupid enough to still have stuff on them."

Brax laughed at her words, "Yeah righto, whatever you say officer. Look, nothing happened, it was a misunderstanding, and it's sorted out now. So I'm sure you can find your way out."

"Brax.." the word left Charlie's mouth just above a whisper causing shivers to be sent up Brax's spine.

"The stairs are that way" He pointed as he stood to walk over to the bar.

"Look I just wanted to talk about the other day."

"What about it? The part where you told me you wanted nothing to do with me, or the part where you called me a crook? Both parts I remember distinctively and do not care for a refresher."

She could hear the emotion in his voice, somewhere between anger and hurt. He was putting his guard up, just like she did.

"The part where you stopped Brodie. I wanted to thank you." Her words were shaky and quiet.

Brax turned to face her, "Yeah well he was out of line. I'm surprised her didn't deck him."

Tears glazed her eyes as she though out about what happened, but before she could speak Brax continued.

"Doesn't matter anyway, all you see me as is a good for nothing crook. Nothing I do is going to change your mind."

"It's not like that." Charlie shook her head, "I mean, it is when it concerns my job, but that wasn't the reason I reacted that way on sunday."

"What was the reason then Charlie?"

"I was scared, saying it was to do with your history or your brothers was the first thing to come to my mind."

Brax shook his head slightly as he walked back towards her, "So why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"I panicked" Charlie looked at the floor as Brax stopped just a foot away from her.

"Yeah okay, well if not then, why not every other time I've seen you this week? It's been five days Charlie, and I've seen you three times!"

"You made it pretty obvious you didn't want anything to do with me!" Her voice was raised, "You have been a damn right jerk!"

Brax scoffed, "What and you weren't? You said some pretty hurtful things that day Charlie!"

She lifted her head to face him, and once again green met blue. "Me freaking out on sunday, at nothing to do with you Brax."

"Then who'd it have to do with?"

They were standing only inches away from each other now. The heat from their breathe could be felt by both of them as they were staring directly into each others eyes.

"Brax, you up here?" called a voice who had just walked up the stairs.

Brax could see the obvious change in Charlie's expression. Her pupils reduced and her breath became sharp as she heard the sound of the boys voice. He looked at her confused before quickly stepping away to see who had entered the restaurant. Brodie came from behind the wall and stopped dead in his tracks.

"What's she doing here?" He raised an eyebrow.

Brax was quick to defend the situation, "What does it look like mate? I'm trying to get you out of another mess."

Brodie's expression changed to somewhat apologetic, "Oh sorry, thanks man, I uh, I just wanted to talk to you about that. I didn't mean for things to look suspicious."

Charlie still stood with her back facing Brodie and her eyes fixed on the wall. Brax could see how obviously uncomfortable Brodie made her, he just wasn't sure why.

"Yeah look mate, shut up before you make it worse. Officer Buckton and I are sorting this out, so get out of here and I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, yeah. Thanks officer, I owe you one! I'll repay you anyway you like." he smirked.

"Brodie Fuck off!" Brax's voice was just below a yell.

Brodie simply nodded and headed back down the stairs out of sight.

Charlie still hadn't moved; she found herself glued to the spot.

"It's Brodie isn't it?" Brax said quietly, "You freaked out because of him."

Charlie looked at Brax with tear filled eyes, "You wouldn't understand, I've got to go." She quickly turned and headed for the stairs.

Brax chased after her, grabbing her arm just as she reached the exist, "Hey, try me. Stay here, I'll close up for the night, and make me understand. What's he done?"

Charlie shook her head, "Nothing, he hasn't done anything. He just makes me uncomfortable. I have to go, my daughters will kill me if I'm not home tonight."

Brax resisted but he eventually let her go. She looked at him once last time before saying, "I'm sorry." and she walked out the door.

He stood at the door way for over a minute, silently wishing she would come racing back, but she didn't.

* * *

Charlie looked at her watch and gasped at the time.

"Oh my gosh It's 11:45! Casey your parents would be so worried, you should be getting home!"

She jumped up from the couch her, Ruby and Casey had been sitting on watching TV to start clearing the coffee table.

"Oh" Casey looked awkward, "yeah It's pretty late, I better go."

"Do you need any help Charlie?" Ruby called as her mother walked into the kitchen with her arms full of dishes.

"Nah it's okay, Thanks!" she called back before entering the lounge room again, "Do you need to call your parents to come and get you Casey?"

The teenage boys eyes found the ground, "Uh nah, I uh, I'll walk it's okay. I don't live too far from here."

"Oh don't be silly, I'll drop you home, can't have you out alone at this time of night." Charlie said as she grabbed her keys.

"I'll come too" Ruby pipped up smiling.

Charlie shook her head, "no you clean all this up before Leah gets home, she'll kill us all!"

All three of them laughed in unison.

"Okay, Well I'll see you later Case, call me when you get home or something." Ruby said as she got up and hugged Casey.

"Yeah I will, thanks for having me over, I had a really nice time." He placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Come on Casey, let's get you home." Charlie smiled, "We can do this every Friday if it suits you guys?"

"Yeah!" The teenagers smiled back happily.

"Alright, See you when I get back Rubes."

"See ya!" Ruby called back as Casey and Charlie walked out the door and hopped into the car.

They had been driving for a few minutes before the silences was broken.

"Thanks for having me over Ms. Buckton." Casey smiled nervously.

"Anytime Casey, you are welcome whenever you like" She returned a smile, "When i know you're there"

Casey laughed slightly, and Charlie could feel the tension decreasing.

"So where do you live?" Charlie added.

"Oh just up mangrove road, and It's the first right. Not too far at all"

"Yeah, but I'm sure your parent's wouldn't want you walking by yourself from the bay." Charlie said as she glanced at him quickly.

Casey moved awkwardly in his chair, "I wouldn't know what they think, I live with my brothers."

Charlie silently cursed herself. She had mentioned his parents multiple times and she was hitting herself for it now. "Oh I'm sorry Casey, I didn't realise." her voice was soaked in sympathy.

Casey brushed off her comment with a laugh, "Oh no it's not like that, I'm sure they are alive somewhere, they just left us when I was a baby. My brothers brought me up."

"Oh really? That must have been tough." She offed him a apologetic smile before he continued.

"Nah it was okay. I mean, my brothers had it tough, my eldest brother was only 17 when it happened. Mum and Dad left his with two kids to take care off, no money, no nothing. He did alright though, he got us through day by day."

Charlie smiled at the teenager, "Well he must have done a pretty good job cause you've turned out alright."

A smile formed on Casey's face at her words and he turned to face her, "Yeah I mean, no one really knows our situation, so they are all pretty quick to judge us. My other brother is great, but he is a bit of a loose cannon."

"Oh I don't blame him, it must have been tough growing up and fending for yourself."

"Yeah well, he's a bit of an idiot, but my oldest brother is the best. I mean, he is pretty much the closest thing I've ever had to a father, and he's done it on his own. If I grow up to be anything like him, I'd be lucky. I mean, as a family we are pretty tight, we would do anything for each other. I owe them everything."

"They sound great, especially your older brother."

"Yeah he is. He looks out for everyone who's had it tough. A lot of them are pretty rough, so he doesn't have the best name for himself. He's nothing like them though, he just tries to keep them out of trouble."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked confused.

"Oh he just like looks after all the boys from Mangrove river who have had a rough childhood like we did. Some of them get themselves into a lot of trouble and he's always there to help them, would never do anything bad, just tries to help them get out of it. He's pretty much a dad to everyone"

Charlie couldn't believe what he was saying. She had not idea Casey had such a troubled upbringing, he seemed like such a normal kid. The respect he has for his brothers too was amazing her, she had no idea who they were but she already had upmost respect for them.

The conversation was interrupted when Casey's phone rang. He quickly answered it.

"Hey, yeah I'm on my way, literally turning into our street now." the boy spoke, "relax, I'm fine, her mum is dropping me off. Okay see ya in a sec."

Casey hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket.

"Told you someone would be worried about you" Charlie smiled.

Casey laughed again, "Yeah he was just checking in, but heres my house."

As the car pulled up to a halt, Casey turned to Charlie. "Thanks so much for dinner, I really appreciate it. It was really great to meet you properly"

Charlie offered a smile in return, "Anytime Casey, I Ruby really likes you and I can see why. You're a good kid."

Casey's cheeks flushed red, "Yeah i really like her too. Anyway, Thanks Charlie, I best get inside before my brothers kill me" he laughed.

"Hey I'll come and just say hello and apologise for keeping you so long. I want to meet these great brothers of yours." Charlie unchecked her seatbelt and followed Casey to the door.

The teenager turned the door handle and went to open it before turning to Charlie, "I'm sorry if the house is a mess, and if my brothers are a bit weird. They can be a bit stand offish at first, but once you get to know them, they really are great."

Charlie smiled, "Don't be silly, and I don't doubt they are wonderful Case."

Casey nodded and opened the door. "Oi, I'm home!"

The house was quite, all that could be heard was the television and Charlie was shocked at just how empty it was. She took a step inside but didn't want to come any further without being asked. Casey walked up the hall and turned to face what seemed to be the lounge room.

"Hey ah Ruby's mum is here, come and say hey."

Charlie assumed he was talking to one of his brothers, but couldn't see for sure as the person was out of sight.

"Cheers for the warning Case, I look a mess" the man replied.

Casey scoffed, "When don't you? She's by the door."

Charlie could here the sound of someone standing up off the couch and turning the TV off as he replied to the teenager.

"Hey, come of it! I'm the best looking out of all of us."

Charlie felt butterflies being to fill her stomach. _I know that voice. _She couldn't help but think she knew the voice replying to Casey, but she couldn't put a finger on it. She stood in the door way and Casey turned back to face her with a smile on his face.

"This is my oldest brother." he said as he stepped to the side allowing his brother to come into vision from behind the wall.

Charlie's stomach dropped at the sight that stood before her. The smile that had been placed upon her face fell and her knees almost gave way from beneath her. Brax stood next to Casey with a smile on his face looking at his brother. He hadn't quite had the time to look up as he spoke.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Brax. You must be…" His words stopped as Charlie caught his eye. He had the same reaction as her.

"Charlie" He said softly.

"Hi" was the only words she could force out.

* * *

**Thanks for reading :D**

**What do you guys think of Chax?  
Now Charlie knows Casey is a Braxton and has heard about Brax through Casey's eyes.  
What do you think is going to happen?**

Favourite! Review! Follow!  
Thanks so much :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey Guys, first of all I am soooooo sorry for the lateness of this chapter! The last few weeks have been ridiculously hectic with uni work and also a close friend of mine passed away, so I haven't had any time to focus on the story. Second, thank you all so much for the reviews, favourites, follows etc, it is seriously what keeps me coming back to this story and motivating me to keep writing. Thirdly, this chapter is a bit of a deep one, alot of Chax (which hopefully you all like) and finally, I hope you enjoy! :)**

* * *

**_Chapter 7_**

"Uh, have you guys met before?" Casey looked between the pair confused.

Brax and Charlie hadn't moved or said another word since they first caught sight of each other. The silences lasted what seemed like forever. Brax couldn't form any sort of logical words from the millions of thoughts that were running through his head. _Casey is dating Charlie's daughter. Ruby is Casey's age. What age does that make Charlie? That doesn't add up. Holy shit she is beautiful. Crap the house is a mess. She probably thinks I'm a slob. I'm staring at her. Shit what if she notices I'm staring. Well this is shit._

Unbeknownst to Brax, Charlie had her own trail of thought running through her mind. _Casey is a Braxton. Darryl Braxton is Casey's brother. Brax's parent's left him. He brought up two boys on his own. Oh my god I have been so horrible. He mustn't be what I thought. Wow he looks so good right now. He should never put a shirt on ever again. What am I thinking? He is off limits. Oh my god he just caught me staring. This couldn't have gone any worse._

Both of their thoughts were interrupted by another interjection from Casey, "Hello?"

"What?" They spoke in unison as both of the adults snapped out of their trance.

The awkwardness that resonated throughout the air caused Casey to feel uneasy, "I said do you guys know each other, or are you both always this awkward when you meet new people?"

Brax chuckled softly, completely embarrassed at what was unfolding, "Ah yeah, I met Charlie when…" his eyes diverted from Casey to Charlie, unsure of what to say next and silently pleading for assistance.

The look on Charlie's face offered the notion that what he was about to reveal was off limits, so he quickly thought up a differently ending to his sentence, "… Heath got in that tiff at the surf club. Officer Buckton was in control of the situation and consequences."

Brax could feel his heart pounding against his chest. He had never felt so off guard in his life. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen was standing in his door way, and he was shirtless. Despite his confident personality, Brax was a very shy person. He had to put up the tough guy act to hold the respect of the River Boys in order for them to respect him so he could help them, but he was very insecure when it came to things he had no control over. Charlie was one of those things. He couldn't predict her, or make her do certain things like her had been able to do with everything for so long. She was a whirlwind, and she was shaking him up simply by breathing; sending shivers up his spine and causing havoc within his stomach. She seemed to be everywhere and he couldn't help crave her presence.

"Oh so you're the good cop that let Heath off" Casey chirped up, "You just keep getting better."

Charlie smiled at Casey, unsure whether her facade was intact. She wouldn't dare think about Casey even having the slightly clue. "I didn't let him off, there was nothing to charge him with."

Casey chuckled at her response, "Ha, Heath breathing near a fight is enough to charge him I reckon. Anyway, I better head to my room, Ruby is expecting me to call. Thanks again for dinner Charlie. Don't wake me tomorrow Brax, I'm sleeping in for once"

"Night Case" Brax grinned at his brother, sighing slightly with relief that he was leaving the pair of them alone.

Charlie also offered a small smile, "I'll see you soon Casey."

With that Casey turned on his heels and walked towards the end of the hall and before he even had opened his door he was already on the phone to his girlfriend.

An awkward air filled the space that sounded the two adults, who were now alone again. Brax turned back to face Charlie, as he spoke, "Well that was awkward."

"You're telling me." She replied whilst shaking her head.

"Look Brax.."

"Charlie I.."

They spoke in unison, causing another awkward factor to the conversation. After lightly chuckling to themselves sheepishly, Charlie insisted Brax spoke first.

"I had no Idea that Casey was going out with your daughter" Brax stated.

Charlie smiled in return, "Well I had no idea Casey was your brother, or that you had any other brothers except Heath."

"Yeah well," Brax lifted his hand to scratch the back of his head, an action he does regularly when he feels embarrassed or uncomfortable. Due to his current choice of attire, the action, unbeknownst to Brax, perfectly displayed his sculpted body. Charlie took the opportunity to admire how muscular and well-built he was, whilst also glancing at another tattoo she was unaware of whilst he spoke, "I like to keep Casey away from the boys and out of trouble."

His paused in speech indicated to Charlie that she should reply and stop staring at his abs, "He's a good kid Brax, you have done well."

The comment made Brax's facial expression change, and Charlie could see that he was slightly confused and shocked.

"Casey told me about your parents, and what they put you through."

Brax softly scoffed, "Case wouldn't know the half of it, and I'm glad about that."

Charlie took a step closer to him, unsure why she was doing it but something inside of her was telling her to just let go of her fear in the moment, "You raised two kids on your own, whilst being a kid yourself."

"I'm not some sort of hero Charlie, they are my brothers, anyone would have done the same thing in my position." He looked to the ground.

The sound of Casey talking to Ruby was heard throughout the hall, causing Charlie to feel cautious over her words. Brax turned to look in the direction of the noise to make sure his youngest brother wasn't coming near to be in hearing range, but Charlie still wanted to be safe, "Look do you wanna come for a walk?"

Brax turned back around to face her, she had taken him off guard completely by even showing up here in the first place, but now she was being nice to him and he didn't know how to react.

"Ah, yeah sure, let me just grab a shirt" He went to turn around towards the lounge room but Charlie's words stopped him.

"It's pretty hot out"

His signature smirk washed over his face as eh turned around to face her, "Oh so you like what you see Buckton?"

Charlie laughed and her face turned bright red, "Oh you wish Braxton."

"Admit it" Brax laughed as they walked out the front door together, "You're a grey trackies and no shirt kinda girl"

Charlie laughed back, "I really just wanted to ask you about your tattoos, since i noticed you had plenty."

"I just got them cause they make me look tough" he replied as he flexed his muscles, earning another grin from Charlie. He couldn't help what he felt whenever he caught a glimpse of her smile, it did something to him that he couldn't explain. "Nah they are just River Boy stuff, like this one" he pointed to the tattoo on his ribs that says _'for each of us that falls, ten shall take his place "_That just means that no matter what, we've got each others back and no matter what gets thrown at us, we'll always come back stronger."

"Oh so you boys are a cops nightmare" Charlie raised an eyebrow.

Brax laughed back "If you put it like that, but really it means that if life knocks us back we'll come back stronger, not with the police though."

"yeah yeah, sure thing" she responded sarcastically.

He couldn't help but smile at her easy nature with him tonight, "Okay well, I wont be telling you what the rest means then."

Charlie nudged his arm and laughed, "I'm only playing Brax, come on, what about the others"

"What do you want to know next?"

"The _We are Legion _one, what does that mean?" she spoke pointing at his lower back.

Brax spoke without even looking at his back, "Pretty much the same thing as the other one, but this one I was in a bit of a mood that I wanted to ink myself. The boys had just got in a bit of a dig, and we had just sorted ourselves out. Wanted to make a permanent reminder that we are a united front"

As they continued walking down the dead end road towards the beach where Summer Bay meets Mangrove River they continued to speak about his tattoos. Charlie felt it was an easy way to hold a conversation, and Brax wasn't protesting the communication.

"What about that one?" She pointed to the one on the inside of his arm that read _One Crowed Hour._

Brax held out his arm and read it himself before speaking, "There is this saying that I heard once, _One crowed hour of glorious life, is worth an age without a name, _and I dunno, it really hit home."

Charlie looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, in the big scheme of things, I am a pretty insignificant man in the world. I'm nothing too special, but I can make my life worth living to me. One crowed hour of glorious life, where I do something that makes an impact on my life and the lives of people around me, is worth an age without a name, is worth my insignificance."

"You're far from insignificant." Charlie spoke softly, bare audible, but Brax heard her.

What had made her change her opinion on him so much? What had Casey said to her?

As they reached the end of the road, Brax sat on the wooden pole fence with Charlie standing in front of him, "You wanna sit for a bit?" He motioned to the space beside him.

Charlie smiled softly as she spoke, "In a minute, I want to be able to see and know what this one means."

She took a step closer to him, now standing between his legs. She traced the words _Blood and Sand _with her index finger, causing goosebumps to cover Brax's body. He closed his eyes briefly, allowing himself to feel her finger against his bare skin.

"Blood and Sand" She whispered as her finger stoked his chest.

Unaware if she could feel the rate in which his heart was beating, Brax spoke "Two of the things I love the most, My family and the beach."

"Well if it's for your family, why do all the River Boys have it?" Charlie questioned him.

"'Cause they are my family. I mean, my brothers were what it was originally for, but once the boys really formed, they became my second family."

Both their voices were soft, like they didn't want anyone to hear them.

"So you were the first to get it?"

Brax nodded, "Yeah, and then Heath was next after a few months and then the rest of the boys all followed. It Just ways a way of us all being connected, we aren't all connected by literally blood, but the ink is now in our blood, and we'd loose blood for each other." He turned his head to face the ocean, "and the sand is where it all began, our love for the surf brought us together, and these tattoo show that we will never be torn apart."

"You love them don't you?"

Brax turned back to face her, "Who? The boys?"

Charlie smiled, "Yeah, and your brothers"

"Yeah I guess you could say that ay, We're all each other have got."

"Yeah Casey told me"

He chuckled softly, "Yeah? What else did he tell ya?"

"Not much, just about how your parents left you boys and you bought up Heath and Casey alone. He didn't go into details, he just briefly said it. But he did tell me how much he loves you, and I can see why." she smiled at him.

"Yeah well he's a good kid, he doesn't know about it all, just what was on the surface. But I love him too, I'll never let anything happen to him, or Heath."

"What do you mean on the surface?" Charlie questioned. The look on Brax's face hinted it was a touchy subject so she quickly added, "If you want to talk, you don't have you."

"Nah it's alright, just makes me angry ya know" he scoffed to himself, "I just don't get it."

"That they left?"

"Nah I know why they did, I just don't get how they could" he nodded, "I mean, they had three kids. Case was just a baby. I remember sitting there, watching tele with Heath and Case, mum was just sitting there looking at the door waiting for dad."

Brax shook his head, "and when he walked in, he wasn't happy. He was shouting and screaming and throwing things all over the house."

He looked back at the ocean, his eyes welled with tears that were made visible in the moonlight and it made Charlie's stomach drop.

"Mum started screaming back at him, about money and something I didn't know about at the time, I was just a kid. Later i figured out what it was. It was drugs. They'd put us in that much debt that they couldn't afford to live anymore. And dad turned to me" his voice started to break, "He turned to me and said '_This is all your fault Darryl'" _he imitated his fathers voice. "_You need to pick your fucking act up around this house and stop taking all our money!" _

Brax took a deep breath and looked back into Charlie's eyes, even though the small pool of tears with were evident in his eyes, he held his composure, not allowing a drop to fall. "I was never given money, that was just the drugs talking, they'd gone delusional. But I just took it, like I always did, I would never dare stand up to him, sometimes Heath would. For a thirteen year old Kid, Heath had some guts after the amount of abuse he copped, to be able to be smart with the old man, but it always got us in more trouble. I never did it back, I knew he wouldn't go after me much anymore because I was a bit older, he would just take it out on Heath and Casey, and I wouldn't allow that. So he just mentally abused me, and so did mum to a certain extent, emotional blackmail was their favourite." He paused for a split second before continuing, "I just sat there staring at the floor, I tried so hard not to let him get to me, but he kept going and going, and then…"

Brax paused, as if the next part of the memory was too hard to think about. His head fell allowing his eyes the meet the ground again.

Charlie rested her hand on his arm as a supportive gesture, "Brax you don't have to…"

But Brax cut her off, his eyes never leaving the floor, "Then he turned to Casey"

His hand formed a clenched fist, so tight his knuckles started to loose their red colour, being replaced with pale skin. Anger washed over his face, the same emotion laced his next words.

"He was a 2 year old kid Charlie" He looked back at the woman standing only half a metre away from his face, "he was innocent and defenceless, and that dog just hit him. Like he wasn't even a human being."

A small gasp left Charlie's lips as she imagined the scenario Brax was recounting. Grown adult parents physically and mentally abusing their children, and then abandoning them was a thought that no normal human being could comprehend, especially someone with children of their own. It was hard for Charlie to wrap her head around.

Brax continued, "And I just snapped, something inside of me caught fire and I lost my cool. I hit him back, and stood between him and my brothers. The piercing cry that filled the room sent shivers down my spine, and I don't know what happened to me. Heath was quick to run to Casey as well, to make sure he was okay. Mum and Dad both lost their cool too, and it was on for a bit, until they walked out the door and never came back. I'm the reason my brothers don't have a family." He choked on his words, trying so hard not to let Charlie see him cry, "And from that moment on I promised myself that I would never let anything bad happen to either of them either again. That's why I bail them out of things. Heath is a bit of a loose cannon because he has been through hell, so I will always back him up no matter how wrong he is."

Charlie was shocked , she couldn't even begin to comprehend the tribulations that the Braxton brothers had lived through. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea."

Brax looked back at the ocean, "No one does, and they are always so quick to judge."

"What made you tell me all of that, if no one else knows, why me?" She couldn't help but wonder why he had been so open with her, a woman he barely knows.

"Because Casey deserves to be given a fair chance. I want you to know he is a good kid."

Charlie smiled slightly even though Brax wasn't looking at her, "I never doubted that."

"But you doubted me"

Charlie could see in his eyes that he was more than she first picked him for. There was so much more heart and loyalty to him, that she couldn't help me feel guilty about the way she had treated him. Despite everything that had happened with men in the past, and how scared and guarded she was around them, she couldn't blame that for her actions with Brax. He was the first man she actually felt something for in a long time, and she couldn't ignore that. The sole reason she hadn't acted upon it was because of his reputation, which Casey had shut down earlier in the night.

"I was wrong about you Brax" Charlie said softly as her eyes found the floor, hoping to avoid his gaze.

The statement took Brax by surprise. He had expected Charlie to understand a bit more but not to take back everything she had said. He looked back towards her searching for answers, "What?" was the only word his mouth would form.

Facing her guilt, and her fear of rejection, Charlie lifted her face and locked eyes with the man before her, "I was wrong" she took a deep breath, "and I'm sorry."

Brax shook his head slightly, "Wrong about what?"

"About you, and your personality and your past and all of it. I was quick to judge and I'm sorry"

Still standing between Brax's legs, Charlie looked towards the ocean, "There is just so much that I didn't know, about your parents, about your brothers and about you. You not insignificant, and you never will be. As far as I can tell, as long as those boys are alive, you'll be the most important person in the world."

Brax couldn't believe what he was hearing. As the words left Charlie's mouth his heart rate became intense and butterflies went wild in his gut. He looked at her with longing eyes, although she was not facing him. Her opinion on him had changed dramatically and he couldn't contain his emotions any longer. Placing both hands on the back of her thighs, Brax pulled her into him causing her head to snap back to look at him straight on. Within seconds their lips were connected, moving rhythmical with one another. The kiss was passionate and lasted several moments before they broke apart for air, leaning their foreheads together.

"We better head back, Ruby and Casey might be getting worried." Charlie panted.

Brax just nodded in agreement has he stood up. The walk back felt quicker than the walk there for both the adults who were now walking hand in hand. Neither of them would have guessed their nights would have ended like this, but they both weren't complaining. Once they arrived back at the Braxton residence, they stood leaning against Charlie's car.

"So what happens now?" Brax asked nervously. He couldn't stand being apart from her, and he was terrified she would react the same way she had after they shared their first kiss.

Charlie smiled back at the man before her, "Now I head home to bed, and get up for work tomorrow hoping I get called out to patrol the surf club where a certain River Boy will be hanging around."

A grin washed over Brax's face, "Oh is that right? I bet he is a 10, for a woman like you to notice him"

"He wishes" Charlie laughed, "Anyway, I better go and check on Ruby, Good night Brax."

As she turned to walk away Brax pulled her back into him, "Good Night Charlie" he whispered before kissing her softly on the lips. The sound of a car door shutting startled the pair causing them the break apart. They both immediately stepped away from each other and looked in the direction of the noise.

"Buckton, what are you doing here?" said Heath as he and Brodie walked up the drive way.

* * *

**So..  
Brax and Charlie have had a serious level up in their relationship.  
What do you think of the tattoo explanations?  
and the childhood memories?  
I wanted to show a softer side of Brax in this chapter, to really show how much of a beautiful soul he is and what he really values and how genuine his feelings are.  
and the ending, do you think Heath and Brodie saw Brax and Charlie? (I have started writing the chapter so I know what happens, but I am interested in your thoughts too!  
**

**Overall what did you think?**

**P.S. - love hearing feedback and requests and stuff like that, It really helps if i ever get writers block! :) I want to make this as enjoyable as I can.**

Remember to Favourite, Follow and Reviews - It means the world to me! 3


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